Savior
by Ishimaru Miwa
Summary: Little Neji treats Little Tenten to icecream when she is feeling blue. Nejiten Oneshot.


Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Summary - Little Neji treats Little Tenten to ice-cream when she is feeling blue. Nejiten Oneshot.

(Neji and Tenten are both five years old and Neji's father had just died.)

Thoughts are in italics.

Savior

"Mummy! Daddy! I want mummy!" a little girl of five cried as she threw herself on the wet pavement, her arms and legs hitting and kicking the ground. She was drenched to the skin, as she had ran in the rain just moments before. Her hair was messy, with a few strands on her face and the others hanging limply down the sides of her head, and her clothes were dirty with mud. She was a pitiable sight, but people merely spared her a glance as they walked passed.

_No one cares about me,_ she thought bitterly, _the only ones who cared were mummy and daddy, but they're gone now… _This made her cry even harder, although it was hard to tell because the rain mixed with her tears and fell to the ground as one. The only thing was her wails, which were loud and annoyed people to no end.

"Go away, you filthy girl! You're disrupting my business." The girl didn't move away. She continued sobbing, and finally the man who told her to scram grabbed her arm and dragged her along the street like a rag doll. She kicked and screamed but still, no one came to her rescue.

The man finally dumped her at a spot near the training grounds in the forest. _The ninjas would bring her home. That would save me a lot of trouble trying to find her family. I doubt she has one anyway, the dirty little beggar girl. I hope the wild beasts get her. That's what she deserves for scaring my customers away. _He kicked her in the stomach, and she gritted her teeth and blinked back tears that were threatening to spill over her cheeks. She wasn't about to let him have the satisfaction of knowing she felt pain.

Meanwhile, a boy watched from a nearby clearing. _If this is the girl's fate, so be it._ _I have no business meddling in other people's affairs, _he thought, but as he turned away, he could not ignore the nagging feeling in the corner of his mind. _Am I right in leaving it as that? Maybe I should help her. Should I? Or should I not? _Unable to make up his mind, he finally forced himself to make a decision.

"What do you think you are doing?" A voice rang out with authority.

The girl looked up at her savior. He was a boy who looked no older than five, with long, silky, black hair tied in a low ponytail and his arms folded across his chest. His eyes were a milky white, and she briefly wondered if he were blind, but discarded that idea as they were currently focusing on the man.

The man was about to include him in the bashing, but he recognized his eyes as one of a Hyuuga's just in time and he backed away slowly, but tripped over a tree's root, landing heavily on his rear end.

_A Hyuuga huh? I better not mess with him. Once I attack one, the whole clan will come after me. And who knows, he might turn out to be the young Hyuuga prodigy everyone's talking about. The girl just got lucky. If I ever see her again…_ He gave her a dirty look. The boy probably guessed what he was thinking about as he glared at him.

"Get lost and never let me see you here again or…" he left the sentence hanging.

The man scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The boy could probably kill him if he wanted to. He was a member of that freaky white-eyed clan after all.

The boy walked slowly to the girl and held out his hand, his head turned in the other direction with a small 'hmph'. She stiffened, then relaxed, smiling warmly at him and cheered up immediately. Taking his hand, she practically flew over as he used a tremendous effort to pull her up.

"Thanks."

Without even responding, he turned around and walked off. She refused to give up, and hurried after him, her bare feet making soft 'tip tap' sounds on the ground. Through it all, she had not noticed that the sun had came out, and was currently shining brightly at her.

"Hi! Thanks for just now! Whats your name? Mine's Tenten." she told him cheerfully, a smile on her face.

He still did not answer her. Instead, with a sweep of his dazzling beautiful hair, he continued to walk in his own pace, not even indicating that he knew the small girl was beside him.

Her smile faded just a tiny bit. _He just didn't hear me... He did not hear me. He did not hear me. _She chanted in her head. Her smile came back at full power as she bombarded him with questions, while trying hard to keep up with his speed. Her fingers entangled behind her back, hoping that her mysterious savior would respond.

"Why can you see if you have no pupils?"

"…"

"Are you a girl or a boy?"

"…"

"If you are a boy, why do you have long hair?"

"…"

"If you are a girl, why do you have such strength?"

"…"

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"..."

"Don't you like me? Do you hate me? Is that why you are not responding?"

She continued, a trace of tears in her chocolate brown eyes. "Is that it? Do you really hate me? This is really important to me..."

He stopped in his tracks, and gave her a baleful glare that clearly said he did not care.

"Ever since mummy and daddy disappeared, everyone hates me... They whisper to each other when they think i won't hear... I hate their symphathy! I don't need that! I just want... someone who likes me... cares about me... who won't treat me like an abandoned child nobody wants."

His pearly white eyes softened just a little. "No," he said simply, "I don't hate you." Her face brightened immediately. "But that does not mean that I like you either." Her smile never faltered.

He started to walk again, but this time, his pace slowed down to suit Tenten's. For the first time, he actually felt a connection with someone. Ever since his father died, all the happiness in his life have seemingly drained away. He did not realise he was the one shutting them out. All he cared was training hard, becoming stronger, until he was strong enough to avenge his father.

He suddenly heard growling from behind him, and turned his head curiously. Tenten smiled sheepishly as she rubbed her stomach. Her eyes were focused on something, and drool was coming out the side of her mouth as more noises emitted from her stomach. He spotted what she was looking at immediately; an ice-cream stall.

Her eyes glazed over with tears as she told him in a forlorn voice, "We used to eat them together." He did not need further telling to know who she was refering to. She sighed sadly and continued walking... to realise that her savior was walking in the direction of the stall. She followed him closely, her mind in a whirl of emotions.

Ordering one chocolate and one vanilla ice-cream, he ignored the inquisitive glances she shot him. When he received the cold cups of delicious, mouth-watering ice-cream, he handed the chocolate one over to her, and promptly began to eat his own. Tenten froze, but recoved in time to gobble down hers while giving him a grateful smile. The somewhat uncomfortable between them was dissipated by the sound of Neji's footsteps... walking away from the stall. Licking her lips, Tenten ran alongside him, her now dried hair fluttering in the air.

"Hey! I just noticed! You still haven't told me your name!" Her eyes were pleading, and her bottom lip stuck out cutely. He took one glance at her, and sighed. Her sharp ears picked up the soft sound, and glanced at him hopefully.

"Neji. My name's Neji."

"Well, since we now know each other's name, I suppose this means we're now friends right?" she stuck out her hand. Neji took it after a second's thought, and he gave her one of his rare smiles, one of the smiles that disappeared overnight when his father died. Tenten beamed at him, and she felt sure that there would be a very strong bond between them afterall.

The End...

Haiz... Couldn't think of a better ending... Ahh... Nevermind... hope you liked it. Review! Please? I spent tons of effort on this... so... review!


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